Messy

Delaware Riverfront, Florence, NJ

23 November 2025

It wasn't a sure thing that Tom's Saturday ride would happen. The overnight rain had left the roads wet, and the thick cloud cover meant nothing would dry out by 10:00. At 7:00 he made the decision that the ride was on.

Bordentown was hosting a Turkey Trot from the park where we'd planned to meet. The lot was full. We all knew to go down the road to the elementary school and park there.

The air was slightly warmer than what I would call cold; I wasn't in full winter gear quite yet. The shell jacket I've had for 25 years is good for about 10 degrees, between 45 and 55, provided the sun doesn't come out at 55. I had booties on over my shoes, more to keep my feet dry than warm. 

The roads were damp and messy. Our frames were coated in road splut and the occasional worm (I found one carcass on my helmet at the end of the ride).

We rode along the river on an inadvertent warehouse tour south of Bordentown. In Florence, Tom steered us to a riverfront park for pictures. It was as gloomy as it looks.

Farther south, we stopped to see the eagle at the Burlington River Promenade.

To the south was the Burlington-Bristol Bridge.

To the north was the Turnpike bridge, which we'd ridden under in the middle of the warehouse tour.

Chris directed Tom farther along to another section of the park, where a tree stump was decorated with birdhouses and surrounded by painted rocks.

Facing the river was a sculpture of a humanoid creature fishing.

The alignment of the bridge supports made my photo look blurry:

We left the river and headed west towards Jacksonville, where we had a quick rest stop at a deli in the middle of nowhere. Five miles later we were in Columbus, which has a slightly better deli (maybe we should lobby for it next time). 

As we went along, the roads began to dry out. We even saw the sun for a murky minute or two before the clouds smothered it again. 

I'm glad we weren't pushing too hard, because I'd registered for a hilly ride to Lambertville from Skillman for Sunday morning. Dave S had promised "no gut-busters," but, looking at the route, I was left questioning his definition.

There was frost on the roof and on my car when I woke up. I got dressed in my next level of winter gear (toe warmers and a winter jacket, heavier gloves, but still a hat instead of a balaclava, and still thin tights). 

My fingers didn't warm up until we'd climbed our first hill, Hollow Road. Dave had a big group (made larger because I blinked and the ride was full, so I'd asked if he could put me on the wait list and he let me in instead). There was a wide talent spread, including a handful of people who were too fast to have considered signing up for a C+ ride. They jumped ahead every time, but were gracious enough to wait for the rest of us. 

We split up in Lambertville, a handful of us riding down to Union Coffee while the rest went to LTC. Neither place can handle a group of 16 all at once.

I wanted to sit outside so that I woulnd't get too warm indoors then have to face the shock of stepping outdoors again. Winter riding is tricky that way. It wasn't so cold that sitting outside had us shivering, but it wasn't warm enough to be comfortable either. While the temperature was supposedly almost 50 degrees, it was cloudy and the air felt colder. 

Once we got going again, I warmed up pretty quickly. Dave's route back to Skillman included the long Mount Airy climb and Dinosaur Hill after that, plus the double hills on Marshalls Corner-Woodsville Road. At least we had a tailwind on Route 518 out of Hopewell.

As winter approaches, the rides I lead are going to get shorter. If it's close to freezing, I won't put in a rest stop at all. 

Also, today's ride put me above my minimum mileage goal, which was not a given, considering how behind I was going into the summer. I blame glassblowing and the weather, in that order. The latter I can't control; the former, well, there will be a blog post soon enough.